Reach of public records law restricted

The commonwealth’s public records statute (G.L.c. 66, §10) does not abrogate judicial protective orders, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled.

The issue arose in a case involving documents that were produced by Fremont Investment & Loan in an enforcement action by the Massachusetts Attorney General and were subject to a protective order. A Superior Court judge rejected Samuel J. Lieberman’s challenge to the order’s validity.

“The question before us is whether the public records law constitutes a legislative determination that the public interest in access to government records overrides the traditional authority of courts to enter protective orders, and thus obligates the Attorney General to provide the documents to Lieberman,” Justice Judith A. Cowin wrote for the SJC. “As an interpretation of the public records law that would compel such a conclusion would raise serious constitutional doubts as to the validity of the statute, we conclude that it does not.”

The 18-page decision is Commonwealth v. Fremont Investment & Loan, et al. (and a companion case), Lawyers Weekly No. 10-043-11. The full text of the ruling can be found by clicking here.